We usually talk about food being the factor in acid-alkaline imbalance, but there are other contributing
factors. Many people who have herpes, cold sores, canker sores and other similar viral infections, notice that the symptoms will flare up unexpectedly and then subside, going dormant until the next flare up. And many of these people notice that the flare-ups are often preceded by an increase in the stress level of their daily lives. This is due to the fact that a virus is stimulated by the elevation of acidity that happens during stress. Additionally, the extra-cellular fluid, the fluid around the cells, becomes slightly more concentrated in acid, and this acid causes the cell membrane to become weak. When the cell membrane weakens the virus can easily enter and become active again. This causes the flare-up of symptoms.

It is easy to say, “Manage your stress,” but we all know how difficult this is to do. Just driving in a car is stressful. Traveling of any kind is stressful, even if it’s a cruise or other vacation. Add to these common,
daily stresses, the stress of a difficult relationship, challenging job and co-workers, financial crises, and unexpected traumas and difficulties, and it’s easy to see how stress affects us.

So, what can we do? I do believe that a lot of the affect of stress comes in our response to stressful situations. Stress is not going to disappear from our lives, but we CAN learn how to deal with it differently, so that it’s affect on us is minimized. When a person is feeling weak and tired, stress has more of a negative affect. Everything seems overwhelming. Here are some things to consider doing, to make yourself stronger so that your way of dealing with stress can improve:

1. Strengthen your kidneys by doing something personally courageous such as developing your ability to do public speaking, or signing solo in front of others, or overcoming some other personal fear you’ve had inside but could transform if you too the necessary steps. When you overcome a personal fear, you will develop the ability to deal with stress in so many other areas of your life.

2. Adopt “mindfulness” practices that can be used through out the day. For this I’ve personally found some of the simple techniques taught by Thich Nhat Hanh to be very practical and useful. He has written many books. His book, Being Peace, is a good place to start.

Many people have “weak kidneys” but are unaware of it. To my knowledge, the condition of weak kidneys is not considered in modern urology. Weak kidneys allow some minerals to leak out that should be reabsorbed and sent back into the blood by the kidneys.

Every time we urinate we naturally excrete some minerals. This is part of the kidneys work. They decide what minerals to reabsorb and what minerals to excrete in order to constantly maintain a correct concentration of minerals in the blood and entire body. But when the kidneys get weak, they lose a little bit of their ability to properly filter the blood. And the kidneys have to filter the entire blood supply every 30 minutes. When they become weak from overworking for a variety of reasons, the begin to lose some of their healthy filtering ability.

One of the most common signs of weak kidneys is regular nighttime urination. If you have to get up once a night, even 2-3 nights per weak, to urinate after you have gone to sleep, you may be developing weak kidneys.
While we are sleeping is the time for the kidneys and all the organs to rest by the slowing down of their functions. It’s a time given to us by Nature to restore ourselves. If we have to get up at night, our body’s ability to restore itself is disturbed. It’s a sign that something needs to change in our lifestyle and dietary choices.

When we urinate more than is necessary, we lose some minerals that we need to remain alkaline.

If you are interested in learning more about the kidneys and how to take care of them, you may want to attend our live online class, Taking Care of Your Kidneys.

I’m not a medical doctor or specialist in infectious diseases. But I am a human being who wants to find ways of helping his human family around the world have less suffering. I have this acid-alkaline theory about viral infections. Here it is in a nutshell: When the fluid around cells, the extra-cellular fluid, has an elevated level of acidity, the cell membrane becomes weak, allowing the virus to easily enter and begin to proliferate.

The main acid-forming nutritional factors are concentrated protein (mainly animal protein), simple sugar, and refined carbohydrates. In my opinion, they are the #1 factors in viral infections and epidemics. Over 50 years ago, George Ohsawa, the modern-day father of macrobiotics, wrote that animal protein and refined sugar are the main causes of human illness and suffering. I believe his words still hold true today, and humanity of the future will recognize the simple truth he taught.

I have never seen my acid-alkaline theory of viral infection supported or disproved in any medical research. If you have any ideas or comments about this theory, or if you have read about any similar theory or criticism of such a theory, please let me know.

I hope that this theory is valid and that it can eventually lead to the relief of human suffering.

Anyone can use the Acid-Alkaline Health re-balancing principles to adjust how they eat to make their meals more nutritious and more balanced. No matter how you prefer to eat, acid-alkaline health principles will support you in identifying missing elements or excesses in your current eating preferences, and it will help you find the balance you desire.If you eat animal protein as a main food: The important thing is to balance the animal protein and fat with plenty of vegetables and some whole grains. This is the main thing needed. So, if you are satisfied with animal food as a regular food in your diet, consider adding some balancing elements: vegetables (raw and cooked), whole grains such as rice or millet, barley, and plenty of fruit. For the fun of it, why not try a few days per week where you have beans in place of meat, chicken, pork or cheese?

If you are a lacto-ovo vegetarian: Use plenty more vegetables, raw and cooked, and whole grains. See if you can put whole grains at the center of many of your meals with protein from plant sources such as beans, tofu, tempeh comprising your main supplementary source of protein, and much smaller amounts of cheese, dairy and eggs.

If you are vegan: Create an anchor to your eating by placing whole grains at the center supported by vegetables, and place protein-rich vegan foods such as beans, tofu, tempeh, seitan, etc., more to the outside rather than the center. Alkaline-forming soups such as miso soup and seasonings such as unpasteurized miso, soy sauce, unrefined sea salt, shiso powder and sea vegetable powders can add important minerals to a vegan diet. Many vegan diets are destabilized by the regular inclusion of refined sugar. Sugar is almost impossible to balance on a vegan diet.

If you eat raw food exclusively: Get plenty of exercise. For example, do outdoor activities like gardening, walking in the sunshine while breathing fresh country air, and on a regular basis eat some uncooked seaweed such as dulse.

Excess protein, glucose and fat/oil feed the development of cancer cells, microbes, yeast and infections.

The following general guidelines supports healthy nutrition without providing excesses of fat, protein, sugar,

additives and preservatives. Consider adding these foods to your preferred way of eating:

Following are the easy basics for understanding and applying Acid-Alkaline Health principles:

1. In a healthy state, the human blood and the fluid around most of the body’s cells are slightly alkaline.

2. Modern lifestyle factors, including diet, add extra acid-forming factors to the blood and fluid around the cells.

3. When the blood has more of an acid load to deal with, the organs that eliminate it, the kidneys and lungs, and the internal system that neutralizes the acid, the blood buffer system, all become overworked. They try their best to eliminate the acid and neutralize it, but their capacity to do this is limited.

4. When acid builds up in the blood and fluid around cells, a healthy alkaline state is difficult to maintain. Over time, acid builds up subtly but surely and weakens all the organs and immune system, causing changes in the internal environment that allows infection, inflammation and other symptoms to arise. A key sign of acid build up is fatigue. People who are always fatigued, usually have acid accumulation in the tissue and joints.

5. Protein, fat/oil, simple sugar and refined carbohydrate are acid-forming. Therefore, foods and drinks concentrated in these will be very acid forming. Of course, we need protein, fat and carbohydrate, but consuming excessive amounts and poor quality foods, brings an acid load to the blood and the fluid around cells.

6. Most of the diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, etc., have their roots in chronic acid presence in the blood, tissue and organs. Immune system disorders, mental illness, and many other health conditions that plague the modern world, have their beginnings in chronic acid build up.

7. The most practical way to maintain healthy alkaline blood and alklaine fluid around the cells is through the selection and preparation of alkaline-forming foods. A macrobiotic diet, wisely and simply done, is an excellent way to maintain an alkaline condition. Contrary to popular opinion, whole grains are not acidifying when properly prepared, chewed, and complimented with foods such as vegetables, condiments, miso soup, pickles, sea vegetables and other alkaline-forming macrobiotic foods.

Cynthia & David Briscoe

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